IAEA: past, present, future

A thematic exhibition “IAEA: past, present, future” timed to the 60th anniversary of the International Atomic Energy Agency runs in the Documents of international organizations reading room (207g), from 25 July to 13 September.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is the world’s leading international governmental forum for scientific and technical cooperation in the peaceful use of nuclear technology. The Agency was established as an independent intergovernmental organization in the UN system in 1957. The Statute of the IAEA was approved at the founding conference in New York on 23 October 1956 and entered into force on 29 July 1957. At present, 168 states are members of the IAEA. The headquarters of the organization is located in Vienna.

The Agency’s governing body is the annual General Conference of all member countries. The current work is carried out by the Secretariat headed by the Director General –Yukiya Amano (Japan) since 2009 till now. The statutory goals of the Agency are to promote the development of nuclear energy and nuclear technologies; nuclear and radiation safety; assistance to scientific research in the field of nuclear energy and technology.

The most important is the safeguards system of the IAEA for the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. The safeguards are a set of activities that the IAEA is conducting to confirm that the State fulfills its international obligations not to use nuclear programmes for the purpose of creating nuclear weapons. Most of the guarantee agreements are based on the international Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) in respect of which the IAEA is the verification body. To date, 180 States have concluded agreements with the Agency.

The Republic of Belarus is one of the founding states of the IAEA. Belarus has a developed legal framework for cooperation with the Agency. Our country is a party to a number of international treaties under the auspices of the IAEA, including the Convention on Nuclear Safety, the Convention on Early Notification of a Nuclear Accident, the Convention on Assistance in the Case of a Nuclear Accident or Radiological Emergency and other legal acts.

The interaction between the Republic of Belarus and the Agency in the field of non-proliferation of nuclear weapons is carried out within the framework of the Agreement on the Application of Safeguards between the Republic of Belarus and the IAEA, according to which regular inspections of the IAEA are conducted on the territory of our country.

The Republic of Belarus carries out practical cooperation with the IAEA in priority areas, from the point of view of national interests. The key areas of cooperation are the development of the nuclear power system, the strengthening of nuclear and radiation safety, the preparedness and response system in the event of a nuclear or radiological emergency, the implementation of IAEA safeguards, the use of nuclear technologies in medicine, and the rehabilitation of regions affected by the Chernobyl accident.

The offered exhibition presents about 80 documents: the documents of IAEA in Russian and English, books, periodicals, mimeographed materials, brochures and booklets.

The exposition includes the following thematic sections:

• The history, purpose and activity of the IAEA;
• The IAEA and non-proliferation of nuclear weapons;
• The legal documents of the IAEA;
• The scientific programmes of the IAEA;
• The IAEA for technical aid and cooperation;
• The Republic of Belarus and the IAEA.

The exhibition is designed for specialists in disarmament and safety, nuclear energy, international relationships; engineers, ecologists, sociologists, political scientists, as well as students, postgraduates and university teachers.

Useful links

• The IAEA
• The United Nations site about IAEA
• The Chernobyl disaster
• The nuclear programme of Iran
• The nuclear programme of North Korea
• The 2005 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) (2–27 May, 2005)
• The 2010 Review Conference for the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) (3 May – 10 May, 2010)
• The 2015 Review Conference for the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) (27 April — 22 May, 2015)
• Disarmament
• The Nuclear and Radiation Safety Department of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Republic of Belarus
• The legal regulation of nuclear and radiation safety
• The National Report of the Republic of Belarus on the implementation Convention on Nuclear Safety
• The IAEA mission in Belarus
• The international obligations of the Republic of Belarus for ensuring nuclear and radiation safety

Documents and publications

• Annual reports
• The Statute
• Conventions and treaties on nuclear security
• IAEA: About
• The International Nuclear Events Scale
• The Incident and Emergency Center
• The Physical Protection of Nuclear Materials: What IAEA does
• The Safety of Nuclear Installations
• Depleted uranium
• Improving Productivity in Agriculture
• Human health improvement
• The Isotope Hydrology and Integrated Water Resources Management

Reading list